John Goodlad Memorial Lecture: Louise Christian - Corporate manslaughter
Report of this event
Manslaughter charge unlikely
The likelihood of healthcare organisations being convicted under new corporate manslaughter legislation was questioned last night by a leading civil rights lawyer. Louise Christian, Head of Public Law at Christian Khan Solicitors, said there were obstacles to successful prosecutions under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act.
The act came into force last year and means companies and organisations can be found guilty of serious failures in health and safety management. But Ms Christian said: "The big question is not whether there are going to be prosecutions in the health service but are there going to be any prosecutions at all?"
Specific provisions, including a section of the act relating to "emergency circumstances", mean convictions in health care are unlikely, Ms Christian said. "It seems to me that section is a very big hurdle because so many of the circumstances hospitals deal with tend to be emergencies." She also pointed out that any fines imposed on health care organisations in the event of conviction would go back into the public purse, adding: "It's a nonsense, really, fining a public body."Ms Christian was delivering the annual John Goodlad Memorial Lecture, named after a former RCN labour relations officer who died in 1991.